Chapter 1201
Though his body had recovered somewhat,
Pa Hon ultimately did not leave the village.
Because he now knew.
That there were good people in this world.
Just as there were selfish, cruel beings who betrayed others, drove comrades to their deaths, and tore at each other's throats for greed—
There were also people like this, who still held pure hearts within them.
From that day on,
Pa Hon began cultivating the herb-gatherers' village with his own hands.
Mountain villages struggled to grow crops.
The steep slopes and shallow soil lacked nutrients.
And among them, this herb-gatherers' village had particularly barren land.
At dawn, when no one was watching,
Pa Hon stood in the gravel field behind the village.
As he pressed both hands into the earth, the parched pulse of the land traveled up to his fingertips.
He closed his eyes and pushed his energy deep into the ground.
Then, the earth—frozen solid all winter—quivered faintly,
And from the seemingly lifeless, dried soil, a blue mist rose like heat haze.
Using the power of his Internal Core, he began slowly enriching the land.
Day after day, he repeated the act of pouring his energy into the earth.
Then, from the field that had once been nothing but scattered stones, tender sprouts emerged, and before long, it began to take the shape of a proper, sturdy plot.
—You must live.
As he communed with the earth through his power, Pa Hon could hear a voice he had long forgotten.
His comrades—closer to him than blood family.
What they had wished for until the very end was not vengeance.
They had wanted him—the youngest, the most fragile,
The one who had never lost his purity—to live happily.
But after witnessing their brutal deaths,
He had forgotten that truth and walked the path of blood as an avenger.
"Is this enough now?"
The voice that broke through the long silence was unfamiliar and cracked.
Until now, he had deliberately kept his distance from the villagers. He had not spoken to them, nor met their eyes.
Outwardly, he had remained guarded like a wounded beast, but—
At the warm meals they offered, at the old coats draped over his shoulders—
His frozen heart had thawed.
Though his body had not fully healed and his wounds remained unclosed, he needed to leave soon.
Because, without realizing it, he had grown attached.
No matter how much he resisted, he was the king of the Spirit Beasts.
He had to return to the forest and kill humans once more.
"Only the wicked."
But from now on, he resolved not to kill indiscriminately.
He would watch them closely, discern the good and evil in their hearts,
And mercilessly execute only those beyond redemption.
Rumble.
Then, from somewhere, a heavy tremor reverberated.
Followed by countless footsteps shaking the earth, the metallic clatter of armor colliding,
And savage shouts shattering the village's quiet stillness.
The subjugation force.
The relentless subjugation force that had been tracking him had finally stormed into this place.
"If I leave, that will be the end of it."
If he disappeared, these good people would be safe.
Pa Hon turned silently toward the deeper mountains.
But he couldn't take more than a few steps before freezing.
Because a vicious roar erupted from the village entrance below, carried to him on the wind.
—There's someone here with an Internal Core?
Had the subjugation force's thugs, with their terrifying presence, taken the children hostage to intimidate them?
Faintly, he could hear someone stammering in terror as they spoke—
About a mysterious young man who had been recovering from injuries in the village.
That information.
Became the spark that would burn the village to the ground.
—That bastard is the one who transformed into the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede!
—Tell us where he is! If you don't, we'll burn this entire village to ashes!
For a moment, silence fell over the village.
Then that silence was soon replaced by agonized screams.
—Guh—ack!
—Aaaagh!
The subjugation force, having lost comrades and friends, had been steeped in anxiety and exhaustion after their long pursuit of Pa Hon.
The longer the chase dragged on, the more their fury festered—until it had twisted into madness.
And now, hearing that someone in this village carried an Internal Core,
They were certain it was the shapeshifter who had become the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede—and so, without hesitation, they committed their atrocities.
—Aaaah!
As the screams tore through the air one after another, Pa Hon's mind went blank.
'I have to save them.'
He sprinted toward the village like a madman. His reason was numb; instinct moved his body.
The barely healed wound on his side split open again, staining his clothes crimson, but he couldn't even feel the pain.
"Hrk—"
As he ran, he tried to transform back into the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede, but his body still refused to obey.
With no other choice, he could only charge forward in his human form and fight.
"Don't harm the villagers!"
Pa Hon lunged at the thugs bare-handed.
He swung his fists, but his human body was pitifully weak.
The moment the thugs saw him, they drew their swords and mercilessly hacked him down.
Flesh split, bone exposed—yet without fear, he threw himself forward,
And shattered the spine of the man about to strike a villager.
Thud!
But in that moment, a spear flew from behind and pierced through his collarbone.
Dizzying pain shot through him, his arm going limp—but Pa Hon gritted his teeth and kicked the enemy in front of him.
"Die!"
In an instant, three blades came flying at him simultaneously.
Pa Hon twisted his body, but with his current reflexes, there was no way to dodge.
In the end, his thigh, side, and even his back were deeply pierced.
"This guy was the Black Centipede?"
"His skills are pathetic."
The rogue exterminators tilted their heads in confusion.
Because he had only regained his human form after falling off a cliff and plunging into the river.
They hadn't gotten a proper look at Pa Hon's face before.
Thud.
With deep wounds bleeding profusely, Pa Hon felt dizzy and dropped to one knee.
A buzzing filled his ears, and his vision blurred.
Then, the cries of the villagers reached him.
"Save us!"
"My child—my child!"
A glimmer reignited in Pa Hon's fading pupils.
Rage—toward humanity, toward this cruel world—burned through his entire body.
"You bastards!"
In that moment, his heart pounded violently, and a long-forgotten instinct awoke.
Crack.
Gradually, black fur began to cover his body, and his skin hardened like armor.
His bones twisted, his muscles swelled, and his height multiplied several times over.
The form of the Black Centipede was slowly revealing itself.
"It's the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede!"
"He really was the Black Centipede in disguise!"
Seeing Pa Hon's true face, the exterminators surged forward with renewed bloodlust.
GROOOAAAR!
Pa Hon roared and swung his massive body.
The nearby rogues flew away like broken branches, but his movements were sluggish.
In the past, he would have swept away dozens in a single strike—now, barely ten fell.
Hundreds of razor-sharp legs lacked their former strength, and he could no longer spew venom from his mouth.
Thunk!
Meanwhile, the arrows fired by the rogues easily embedded themselves in his flesh.
His once-armor-like skin had softened.
Whoosh.
In the end, Pa Hon reverted to his human form.
His body had yet to fully recover, leaving him unable to wield the full power of the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede.
"That bastard's lost his strength!"
"Kill him now!"
In contrast, though the exterminators wore human forms, their hearts were those of demons.
Their eyes held no mercy, no hesitation.
Each time their weapons carved into Pa Hon's body, their faces twisted with the ecstasy of slaughter.
Before long, the exterminators tightened their encirclement, and countless weapons pierced his flesh.
Splurt!
Black blood cascaded from Pa Hon's body like a waterfall.
A monster, he fought to protect the villagers.
Humans, the exterminators, sought to kill their own kind.
Again and again, Pa Hon collapsed to the ground, only to rise like a stubborn doll, shielding the villagers to the very end.
"We have to take his Internal Core while he's still alive!"
The exterminators' eyes burned with crimson madness.
"Kill the villagers first! That'll stop him from resisting!"
At their shouts, Pa Hon froze.
This battle—it had been unwinnable from the start.
"Guh—!"
"Kgh—!"
But then, something strange happened.
Screams erupted from the rear of the exterminators surrounding the village, and soon, their ranks crumbled as rogues coughed up blood and collapsed.
Especially those who had tried to harm the villagers—they shuddered as if struck by lightning before falling without fail.
"Ugh— Aaaah!"
Watching their comrades drop one after another, the rogues shrieked.
"Divine punishment—it's divine punishment!"
Their relentless bloodlust shattered before death.
The people of India had worshipped countless gods and spirits for generations.
Seeing their unharmed comrades die like lightning-struck victims for no reason,
their minds cleared as if doused in ice water.
They believed they were being punished for harming innocent civilians.
Rumble.
The exterminators who had swarmed the village threw down their weapons and fled like madmen.
To escape the wrath of the gods, they had no choice but to leave this place.
"Hah... hah..."
Pa Hon gasped for breath.
His body was ruined, but he had protected the villagers in the end.
The villagers cautiously approached the blood-soaked Pa Hon.
Then, they prostrated themselves before the man who had risked his life to save them.
"This happened because of me."
Pa Hon spoke to them for the first time.
"So there's no need for thanks."
Then he turned and left the village.
The land had been enriched, and countless Spirit Beasts now dwelled in the area—the village would thrive from now on.
When he reached the outskirts, Pa Hon stopped.
The girl who had saved him stood there.
In her small hands, she held a basket filled with medicines to treat his wounds.
Instead of taking it, Pa Hon gently placed his hand atop her head.
A warm energy flowed into her.
Startled, the girl looked up—and Pa Hon smiled faintly.
Like a lotus blooming amidst the filth of the world, it was a noble, tender smile.
Beyond the village, a lush green forest stretched before Pa Hon.
Scanning his surroundings, he slowly came to a halt and spoke in a low voice.
"Come out now."
At Pa Hon's words, a gray shadow descended from the empty air. It was none other than Bu Eun-seol.
"I was going to kill you the moment I got the chance, since you kept following me."
Pa Hon, who had been staring at Bu Eun-seol, shook his head.
"You saved me multiple times. Let's leave it at that."
Ever since merging with the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede, Pa Hon had been able to sense a peculiar gaze.
Someone was watching him from afar, observing how he lived.
He had intended to seize and kill them the moment an opportunity arose.
But their presence was extremely faint, and no matter how much he stretched his senses, he couldn't pinpoint their exact location.
Yet that persistent, annoying gaze hadn't brought him only discomfort.
When he was being pursued by the extermination squad, the reason he could leap into the river—
Was because the owner of that stubborn gaze had disrupted the squad's formation.
Though he barely survived the river's currents,
Pa Hon's body was torn apart, his bones broken, and even his stamina completely drained.
His breath was so faint it could have vanished at any moment.
Just as his consciousness began to blur,
The owner of that gaze approached and carefully laid him down on the ground.
—......No Radiant Cloud Wine, I see.
Muttering something strange, the man placed his hand over Pa Hon's wounds.
In an instant, a soft, warm golden light bloomed forth.
It wasn't Internal Energy—it was a power of compassion and healing, fueled by life force itself.
His torn wounds began to mend, and his broken bones realigned.
—Why?
Pa Hon found the thought strange, but he soon lost consciousness.
When he opened his eyes again, he had recovered somewhat, enough to drag himself to a mountain cave.
Later, after meeting the girl and recovering his body,
While resting in the village, he overheard people talking and learned something.
That someone had already convinced the villagers he wasn't an evil person.
It didn't take long to figure out who that someone was.
Because when the extermination squad attacked the village, that stubborn gaze returned once more.
One by one, he guided the villagers to safety.
And when the rogue warriors still attacked them,
He struck the extermination squad with a power akin to that of an immortal, sending them fleeing in terror.
"You knew, didn't you?"
When Bu Eun-seol spoke, Pa Hon asked,
"Why did you follow me and help me?"
"I owed you."
"What?"
Bu Eun-seol answered with the utmost sincerity.
"I wanted to repay the debt I owed you, and I simply wanted to know what exactly was happening here."
Then, as if apologetic, he added,
"But in the Blood Nest's cave... I waited outside, so I couldn't save the people."
Pa Hon shook his head calmly.
"You're not a god. There's no need to feel sorry for such things."
Then he asked,
"Is there anything else you want from me?"
"Do you know about the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Wine? A bead that looks like this..."
After listening to the explanation for a while, Pa Hon shook his head.
"I don't know. I've never seen it."
"I see."
"Was that what you wanted from me?"
"No, I was just asking."
After hesitating briefly, Bu Eun-seol asked,
"That person we met in the cave earlier... the one who gave you power—was it the True Demon?"
"The True Demon?"
Pa Hon shook his head.
"In exchange for giving me the power to take revenge, he only asked me to become the king of the Spirit Beasts. That was all."
"I see."
He had already suspected as much.
If that man were the True Demon... rather than directly seeking something in exchange for empowering Pa Hon,
He would be executing a grander scheme, as if meticulously arranging pieces like a god.
"Then what do you plan to do now?"
Taking a deep breath, Bu Eun-seol said,
"I've repaid my debt and learned enough about the situation. Now, I should do what I must."
Thanks to following Pa Hon all this time,
He had come to understand why Pa Hon lived among the outcasts in Jiaozhi, why he had given him the Internal Core without hesitation to save him,
Why he had come to trust the will of good people,
And why he had regained faith in human goodness.
Now that he knew the whole truth,
It was time to find the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Wine and escape this two-thousand-year-old memory from India.
"Is that so?"
Though Pa Hon couldn't fully comprehend Bu Eun-seol's words, he could sense that he was leaving.
"Thank you."
Pa Hon bowed respectfully.
Had it not been for him, he would have died under the extermination squad's pursuit, and he would never have met the girl who restored his faith in human dignity and goodness.
"I'll repay this debt someday."
"You already have."
Bu Eun-seol gave a bright smile.
"More than enough, far beyond what was necessary."
Then he turned and vanished in an instant.
Pa Hon stood there for a moment, dazed.
When Bu Eun-seol smiled, it was as if the darkened world had instantly regained its color.
And for some reason, he felt an inexplicable longing—as if he had known him long, long ago.
After parting with Pa Hon, Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh.
"So they really are connected."
Only after experiencing Pa Hon's ordeal did he realize it.
The past might seem like just the past, unrelated to the present—
But in truth, they were intricately intertwined.
"If this truly happened..."
Had he changed history?
Or had there really been someone from India who helped Pa Hon, just as he had?
Most likely the latter.
"Because people can't return to the past."
Perhaps he was merely... experiencing events that had already unfolded in history.
Whoosh.
Just as he summoned the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi and began to rise into the air—
"......!"
A sudden, bizarre sensation struck him, and the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi swirling within his body vanished in an instant.
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol landed back on the ground, his expression hardening.
Along with an eerie, freezing vibration in the air—
Bzzzt.
The space before him distorted,
And in the distance, an abyssal darkness began to coalesce into a humanoid form.
The very man who had first granted Pa Hon his power—
The one with a tattered cloth draped over his head, the figure he suspected to be the True Demon, had appeared.